New Zumo 340/350 GPS discussion

Costco sells Garmin Zumo 350LM 4.3" Motorcycle GPS for $599 after rebate. I dont need it so much for main roads but more for WABDR and the Oregon BDR (or whatever it is called). Does anyone know if forest service roads are on the maps?
I dont really want a GPS that will take days of research and fiddling around to get to work. My Nuvi car GPS has been a on road lifesaver at times but like all GPS software has its limitations so Im not expecting perfection but for the cost of the Zumo I would hope for a good, functional and relatively easy to use product.
Does anyone know if Costco carries them in the warehouse rather than just online?

Costco sells Garmin Zumo 350LM 4.3" Motorcycle GPS for $599 after rebate. I dont need it so much for main roads but more for WABDR and the Oregon BDR (or whatever it is called). Does anyone know if forest service roads are on the maps?
I dont really want a GPS that will take days of research and fiddling around to get to work. My Nuvi car GPS has been a on road lifesaver at times but like all GPS software has its limitations so Im not expecting perfection but for the cost of the Zumo I would hope for a good, functional and relatively easy to use product.
Does anyone know if Costco carries them in the warehouse rather than just online?

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You need to have Track viewing and display-on-map capabilities if you are going to navigate any of the Backcountry Discovery Routes, including WABDR and OBDR. To my knowledge, the zumo 350LM does not have Track Import support - but then I don't own one so someone correct me please if I'm out of date with the 350LM capabilities.

You need to have Track viewing and display-on-map capabilities if you are going to navigate any of the Backcountry Discovery Routes, including WABDR and OBDR. To my knowledge, the zumo 350LM does not have Track Import support - but then I don't own one so someone correct me please if I'm out of date with the 350LM capabilities.

Cheers,

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You are correct. One cannot simply import a track and then see it on screen. I have tried repeatedly.

However, there may be a workaround where the track has to be re-named to something else like people have done with the Zumo 550s. I have not explored that option personally, but since it seems that one can look back at old tracks, it might be possible. However, I think that for the rider who needs tracks, it is a better idea to get a unit that supports them right out of the box. That would mean Montana (definite), or (I think) the 660/665.

I may be dreaming but I remember seeing a friend of mine modify a route on his Zumo 550 with a tool that looked like the rubber band shaping tool thing. Is there a way to do this or to locate and add a random via point to a route on the 350?

I have a brand new Zumo 350ml that I am using for off road dirt biking. After a ride I save the trackback as a trip. The trip I can see and use on the Zumo no problem at all.

I then transfer it to my PC using Base Camp and delete the trip in the Zumo so that I am sure that my next trip will be recorded separately.

In Base Camp I can see the trips that I have saved (in Base Camp they are called tracks) and I can also convert them into routes.

Now, the problem is when I try to load them back into my Zumo. You have to convert them from a track to a route to transfer them back to a Zumo 350. You can transfer a track to a Zumo 350 but you won&#8217;t be able to see it in the Zumo, or at least I can&#8217;t. So you have to transfer a ROUTE.

After transferring the route to the Zumo 350 I get an error message on the Zumo saying that the trip (back to trips again) has more than 29 viapoints and the trip has been broken up into 23 separate trips!!! We are talking about only a 80 km trip here.

I have checked and it is confirmed. The Zumo 350 has a max limit of 29 viapoints (waypoints) per trip. So we have to work around that.

There is a cool program that you can download called WinGDB3 at http://www.sackman.info/ just choose the language and go for it. And it&#8217;s free...

Specifically for Zumo guys with problems they should set it up as below and point the track file for input. I just made a directory to keep my tracks in and locate it from there.

The result will be put on your clipboard. You just paste it onto the index of the left side of BaseCamp. Easy. Then transfer the ROUTE to the Zumo and that&#8217;s it.

This program removes all of the viapoints from the track leaving only the beginning and the end. Your track will still be 100% as original, except (there has to be a down side) that you will not have the turn by turn instructions. You will need to add a few waypoints at specific corners (in BaseCamp) where you need instructions to turn.

Your TRACK will stay the same, with all the viapoints in it and if your convert it to a route then the route will again have a zillion viapoints, so you do not loose your original trip!

VERY IMPORTANT! Make sure that your route recalculator is turned OFF or the map will warp as soon as you off off track.

Don't you find that the GPS recalculates and changes the route when you want to navigate it?

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Yes, I posted it also on the garmin forum. There are tons of guys out there who are not dirt bikers who also need this info. It suddenly makes the Zumo 350 a viable dirt bike GPS, and will wipe the tears off the face of the guys who bought them. I know that it did with me

I have not used it on the street, only the dirt and I do not want the route recalculated. I assume that without the viapoints on the trip, the recalc will go haywire, but that is just MHO.

Yes, I posted it also on the garmin forum. There are tons of guys out there who are not dirt bikers who also need this info. It suddenly makes the Zumo 350 a viable dirt bike GPS, and will wipe the tears off the face of the guys who bought them. I know that it did with me

I have not used it on the street, only the dirt and I do not want the route recalculated. I assume that without the viapoints on the trip, the recalc will go haywire, but that is just MHO.

Cheers,

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Note that I am not arguing and have not tried your techniques, but am I correct in understanding that you are:

1. navigating a route that, since it was made from your track in the dirt(?) has no routable roads under it?
2. although lacking the routable roads, the route holds its correct shape and placement over the map?

I have a brand new Zumo 350ml that I am using for off road dirt biking. After a ride I save the trackback as a trip. The trip I can see and use on the Zumo no problem at all.

I then transfer it to my PC using Base Camp and delete the trip in the Zumo so that I am sure that my next trip will be recorded separately.

In Base Camp I can see the trips that I have saved (in Base Camp they are called tracks) and I can also convert them into routes.

Now, the problem is when I try to load them back into my Zumo. You have to convert them from a track to a route to transfer them back to a Zumo 350. You can transfer a track to a Zumo 350 but you won&#8217;t be able to see it in the Zumo, or at least I can&#8217;t. So you have to transfer a ROUTE.

After transferring the route to the Zumo 350 I get an error message on the Zumo saying that the trip (back to trips again) has more than 29 viapoints and the trip has been broken up into 23 separate trips!!! We are talking about only a 80 km trip here.

I have checked and it is confirmed. The Zumo 350 has a max limit of 29 viapoints (waypoints) per trip. So we have to work around that.

There is a cool program that you can download called WinGDB3 at http://www.sackman.info/ just choose the language and go for it. And it&#8217;s free...

Specifically for Zumo guys with problems they should set it up as below and point the track file for input. I just made a directory to keep my tracks in and locate it from there.

The result will be put on your clipboard. You just paste it onto the index of the left side of BaseCamp. Easy. Then transfer the ROUTE to the Zumo and that&#8217;s it.

This program removes all of the viapoints from the track leaving only the beginning and the end. Your track will still be 100% as original, except (there has to be a down side) that you will not have the turn by turn instructions. You will need to add a few waypoints at specific corners (in BaseCamp) where you need instructions to turn.

Your TRACK will stay the same, with all the viapoints in it and if your convert it to a route then the route will again have a zillion viapoints, so you do not loose your original trip!

VERY IMPORTANT! Make sure that your route recalculator is turned OFF or the map will warp as soon as you off off track.

Click to expand...

WinGDB3 has been around quite a while but v4.2 of BaseCamp can filter your Track points to any amount you want. Did you know about Track point filtering?

I wasn't aware that the zumo350LM would accept a multipoint mixed-travel route without recalculating it - which would reroute any off-road (Direct Routing) segments.

I tried the BaseCamp filter. By filtering out the viapoints on BC your route ends up changing and you get straight lines between a few viapoints. Try it. Take one of your dirt bike trails that has over 1,000 viapoints and put 29 as the max viapoints. It will recalculate it, but look at the map you end up with...totally different animal.

Note that I am not arguing and have not tried your techniques, but am I correct in understanding that you are:

1. navigating a route that, since it was made from your track in the dirt(?) has no routable roads under it?
2. although lacking the routable roads, the route holds its correct shape and placement over the map?

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Hi EMoto,

I'm using Garmin's Southern Africa Top map. It is super. It even has foot paths on it! So most , but not all of where we ride is actually on the map, although not 100% accurate.

There is one thing that cheeses me off is that the detail drops off when you zoom out both on the Zumo & BaseCamp. :eek1

I tried the BaseCamp filter. By filtering out the viapoints on BC your route ends up changing and you get straight lines between a few viapoints. Try it. Take one of your dirt bike trails that has over 1,000 viapoints and put 29 as the max viapoints. It will recalculate it, but look at the map you end up with...totally different animal.

Cheers,

Click to expand...

Most of the time when you convert a Track to a Route you will have to do some "fixing" of the Route. To understand why, select one of your Tracks and zoom in on it so that you can see where the track points are compared to the road. If one of the points left after the filter is not exactly on the mapped road, BaseCamp has to decide if it is "close enough" or if it was intended to be off-of-the-road. Sometimes it can look like a point is on the road but if there is an intersection and the point is just a bit closer to the wrong road, when routing happens the route can be shaped the wrong way. Also, keep in mind that your digital map data is used to determine the routing and if there is bad or no route data in the map you will not get the route you expected.

Since you are using GARMAP Topo, it has routable and non-routable roads. Most likely your track(s) are using both so BaseCamp is looking for a routable path to route you.